Termidor SC Termiticide/Insecticide - Questions & Answers

According to the Termidor label you cannot apply Termidor within 5 feet of a well or cistern.

Yes, you can order Termidor SC and we can ship it to your relative in TN. Then your relative can ship the package to you.

Termidor is only labeled to be used around the perimeter of the structure for ant treatment. The Carpenter Ant Kit #1 consists of baits that the Carpenter Ants will eat and take back to their nest.  They will then feed the bait to the queen and the other colony members and in turn the product will kill all of the ants in the colony.  This is important because once the colony is eliminated, you will not have to battle them again.  That being said, these baits are very safe and completely harmless to trees or plant life outside.  The ants will not move to another location or to your house.  These products are a bait that the carpenter ants are attracted to and will want to eat, so it will not cause them to move away from it.  Follow the instructions on the packaging.

Termidor SC is not known to leech through the soil. You will need to follow the Termidor SC product label which has specific instructions for treating near a well to avoid any contamination issues:

TREATMENT AROUND wellS OR CISTERNS: Do not contaminate wells or cisterns.
Structures With wells/Cisterns Inside Foundations: Structures that contain wells or cisterns within the foundation of a structure can only be treated using the following techniques:
1. Do not apply within 5 feet of any well or cistern by rodding and/or trenching or by the backfill method. Treat soil between 5 and 10 feet from the well or cistern by the backfill method only. Treatment of soil adjacent to water pipes within 3 feet of grade should only be done by the backfill method.
a) Trench and remove soil to be treated onto heavy plastic sheeting or similar material or into a wheelbarrow.
b) Treat the soil at the rate of 4 gallons of solution per 10 linear feet per foot of depth of the trench, or 1 gallon per 1.0 cubic feet of soil. Mix thoroughly into the soil taking care to contain the liquid and prevent runoff or spillage.
c) After the treated soil has absorbed the solution, replace the soil into the trench.
Structures With Adjacent wells/Cisterns and/or Other water Bodies: Applicators must inspect all structures with nearby water sources such as wells, cisterns, surface ponds, streams, and other bodies of water and evaluate, at a minimum, the treatment recommendations listed below prior to making an application.

1. Prior to treatment, if feasible, expose the water pipes) coming from the well to the structure, if the pipes) enter the structure within 3 feet of grade.
2. Prior to treatment applicators are advised to take precautions to limit the risk of applying the termiticide into subsurface drains that could empty into any bodies of water. These precautions include evaluating whether application of the termiticide to the top of the footer may result in contamination of the subsurface drain. Factors such as depth to the drain system and soil type and degree of compaction should be taken into account in determining the depth of treatment.
3. When appropriate (i.e., on the water side of the structure), the treated backfill technique (described above) can also be used to minimize off-site movement of termiticide.

You will mix .8 ounces of Termidor with 1 gallon of water. Please see the product label for full usage instructions.

You definitely do not have to treat all at once.  A Termidor treatment can be spread out over a few weekends or whatever time frame you want to.  Please read our "How To Do A Termite Treatment" article if you have not already.  You are also welcome to call us with any specific treatment questions.  We are here to help.

You would handle this situation by either removing a good portion of the soil you treated with the over the counter product and replacing it like you had suggested, or by treating everywhere else but the area you treated.  If you are going to try to replace the soil, then make sure you dig down plenty deep and remove all of the soil that may have been contacted by the over the counter product.  Don't worry, many homeowners do the same thing and call us when they realize there are better alternatives.  It should be fine.

Termidor SC can be applied anytime through out the year, as long as it is not below freezing temperatures.  Termites are active all year round in many parts of the country so anytime is a good time.  As far as treatment goes, you should read our "How To Do A Termite Treatment" article which explains how a homeowner should do their own termite treatment just as good as the professionals.

You must find out how many lineal feet you have around the outside or your home. Unfortunately, the square footage just will not tell us how much you really have to treat. To find how many lineal you have, measure around the front, back and each side of your home. Add up the measurements and now you will have the total lineal feet. Use 4 gallons of finished solution per 10 lineal feet around the house. For Example: A home with 200 lineal feet around the foundation would require 4 bottles of Termidor SC. Most homes require at least 4 bottles. Spraying alone will not protect your home from termites. To protect your home from termite infestations, Termidor SC must be mixed with water and poured in a 6-inch deep trench that is dug around the foundation of the home. You can purchase Termidor SC on our website.

In the area where the well is located, you cannot use the trenching method, only the backfill method is allowed. The backfill method instructs you to trench and place the soil that was removed onto a tarp, pour 1 gallon of diluted solution per 1 cubic ft of soil, mix thoroughly, return soil to trench. The complete instructions are listed on the Termidor product label under the heading "Treatment of structure with wells or cisterns"

Termidor SC  used outdoors and Phantom used indoors have been the most effective products to control Crazy Raspberry Ants. Ant baits and synthetic pyrethroid insecticides do not seem to do an effective job controlling this ant species. Texas A&M University has done extensive research regarding these ants and you can find detailed articles on their extension website.

You will need to trench or drill around each pier or area of the house that touches the ground and apply either Termidor SC or Dominion 2L according to the product label instructions. Termidor SC will last for about 10 years in the soil while the lower cost Dominion 2L will last approximately 7 years in the soil.

Yes. You can find the spider and ant instructions on product label on page 13 on the bottom right hand side of the page. Basically you will mix .80 fl oz per gallon of water and spray 1 ft up the foundation and 1ft out onto the ground, around door frames, window frames, and any other exterior crack, crevice or gap where spiders may try to gain entry. Termidor SC is an outdoor only product and should not be used on the interior of your home for spiders or ants.

If you are lucky enough to have the wood on the deck run parallel to the house, then you can remove 2 runs of wood running against the house, perform the trench and treat method under the porch, and then put back the wood.  If your wood decking runs perpendicular from the house, then you don't have many options.  You can trench around the perimeter of the deck and then pour some termiticide from the bucket against the house so hopefully most of it is saturated into the ground against the house.  This is of course better than not doing anything at all, but you should keep a close eye on the area.

Termidor should not be used near a body of water.  If you are located very close to the lake, or are treating spiders in a boat house, you have to be very careful because insecticides are very detrimental to aquatic life.  If you live very close to the water then you should use Eco Exempt IC3.  It is an all natural product and will kill all insects.  Best of all it is not harmful to aquatic life.

There is not a soil sample test kit for homeowners use that we know of.  However, most states department of agriculture's have a way to test soil for termiticides.

The goal is to soak the bottom of the trench so the solution sinks down into the ground along the foundation.  After the solution soaks into the ground, you should apply the solution to the backfill as you push it back into the trench so you have a complete treated barrier against the house.

Termidor is not labeled to spray in the yard, it is only labeled to be applied next to the house as a spray for ants or in the ground for termites.  The rule of thumb is that Termidor can be applied as long as the well is more than 10 feet away from the house.  Termidor is made to bond to soil and not run off, but only when applied as a termite treatment into the ground. Please refer to the product label for complete application instructions and precautions.

We cannot comment on treatments performed by pest control operators. We can tell you that the Termidor SC product label does allow applications in wall voids only indoors and there are limited applications allowed in crawlspaces. You can read pages 13-15 of the Termidor SC product label to see if the application performed by the pest control operator follows the instructions given by the manufacturer.

Termidor SC is not labeled to be used in the manner you have described and it would be illegal to use it in such a way. Because Termidor SC does have the ability to be transferred from insect to insect you could potentially wipe out entire honey bee colonies by misusing the product which could be a huge problem for local farmers. The transfer effect that Termidor does have only works for social insects like ants, bees, wasps and termites. We recommend that you choose a product that lists bagworms on the product label such as Talstar P (Talstar P is the product most commonly selected by pros for bagworm control), Thuricide, Mavrik, or Permethrin SFR. Please take a few minutes to read our article Bagworm Control to learn when you should start spraying for bagworms.